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Browsing by Author "Mooney, Daniel, advisor"

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    Comparative profitability of irrigated cropping activities for temporary water transfers
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2019) Kelley, Timothy, author; Mooney, Daniel, advisor; Goemans, Christopher, committee member; Andales, Allan, committee member
    In response to a projected gap in water supply and demand, Colorado's Water Plan calls for up to 50,000 acre-feet of temporary water transfers from agricultural to municipal and industrial uses by 2030. Water stakeholders, however, want to avoid buy and dry scenarios, implying that a portion of agricultural water-right holders' consumptive use (CU) should remain available for on-farm agricultural production. Alternative Transfer Methods (ATMs) represent the regulatory mechanisms that enable temporary water transfers without permanent drying of agricultural land. To participate in an ATM, water-right holders must first establish a historical consumptive use (HCU) baseline which can then be allocated to agricultural production or temporary transfer. When faced with less water, producers may pursue several management options, including: rotational fallow, deficit irrigation, changes to crop mix, or changes to other practices like harvest timing. Yet, previous research on the risk profile of these options and their effect on producers' expected adaptation behavior is limited. This research develops a framework to compare the expected profitability of irrigated cropping activities, and in doing so, accounts for differences in risk and water-leasing potential. The framework is applied to a case study of twelve selected irrigated cropping activities on a well-drained silt loam soil in northeastern Colorado using stochastic enterprise analysis. Specifically, we compare gross margins for two corn (grain and silage) and two alfalfa (two cut and three cut) cropping enterprises on a per water-unit basis (one unit equals 12.94 acre-inches of CU); each under full irrigation, deficit irrigation, and partial fallow water management strategies. First, we simulate producers' expectations about gross margins based on empirical distributions of precipitation, price, and cost data for 1992 – 2017 and the FAO crop water production function. Second, we employ econometric analysis of the first, second, and third moments of the simulated gross margin distributions to estimate a risk premium for each activity. Fully-irrigated corn is set as the reference activity (one acre requires 1 water-unit of irrigation or 12.94 acre-inches of CU) and we find that crop choice, harvest timing, and deficit/fallow strategies all significantly affect producers' risk exposure relative to the reference activity. Activities remaining in the efficient set are primarily the rotational fallow strategies which would enable 3.24 – 7.14 acre-feet of CU to be leased for every twelve water-units of their HCU baseline enrolled in an ATM at a breakeven cost of $386.05 to $791.51 per acre-foot. More land could be maintained in agricultural production for an identical amount of transferable water under deficit irrigation, but it would typically come at a higher breakeven cost of $381.95 to $850.19 per acre foot depending on the producers' choice of crop and harvest strategies. The results should be of interest to academic, producer, and policy audiences, respectively, as they provide insight on (i) a novel methodology for comparing irrigated cropping activities that incorporates expected profitability, risk, and leasable water into a single metric, (ii) a ranking of potential adaptation strategies for producers who participate in ATMs, and (iii) insight into the economic tradeoffs between maintaining agricultural working land while also allowing for temporary water transfers to other beneficial uses.
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    Drought & conservation: exploring the relationship between drought and grazing land conservation program enrollment
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2021) Hensen, Reid, author; Mooney, Daniel, advisor; Hill, Alexandra, advisor; Fernandez-Gimenez, Maria, committee member
    Financial loss from drought can have devastating impacts on the livelihoods of land and livestock managers. Conservation practices are one of the drought adaptation strategies for mitigating the damage of drought and are particularly useful for long-term adaptation. Using the largest known database of grazing conservation practice implementation, this study analyzes the effect of drought conditions on enrollment into the USDA Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) at the national scale. Specifically, we explore the impacts of drought on the number of EQIP grazing practices implemented in a given county from 2009-2018. We exploit exogenous variation in drought exposure at the county level to estimate the effect of drought conditions on grazing practice implementation. We find that severe drought increases drought-related conservation practice implementation for up to two years. Additionally, we find that following a severe drought, there is a meaningful increase in practices related to long-term drought adaptation such as ponds, livestock pipelines, and range planting. When analyzed by agricultural region, our findings suggest that each region uniquely uses conservation practices to respond to drought. We complement our national econometric model with a brief analysis of a 2013 survey of Colorado and Wyoming ranchers. We use results from the survey to examine management and drought adaptation differences in producers who had enrolled in EQIP and those who had not. We find that ranches enrolled in EQIP are more likely to add alternative on-farm enterprises and incorporate pasture rest into their grazing system as part of their drought adaptation strategy. Results from both data sources work in concert to provide insight into the relationship between drought, EQIP, and livestock management.
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    Exploring heterogeneous motives behind animal welfare management: a focus on fed cattle
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024) Ayoub, Samantha Elizabeth, author; Mooney, Daniel, advisor; Koontz, Stephen, committee member; Ritten, John, committee member; Edwards-Callaway, Lily, committee member
    This thesis evaluates animal welfare management for fed cattle in two parts. The final marketing stage of the cattle supply chain, which includes transportation from the feedlot, unloading, lairage, and stunning, can subject cattle to significant stress. Yet, previous research has primarily concentrated on animal welfare in upstream segments of the supply chain, such as at ranches and in feedlots. As consumer awareness increases and demand for improved animal welfare rises, it is crucial to evaluate the impacts of animal welfare outcomes on fed cattle production across the supply chain. First, a lot-level empirical analysis evaluates how animal welfare outcomes in the final marketing stage affect the final grid value of fed cattle carcasses. We hypothesize that poor animal welfare outcomes will be negatively correlated with processed carcass value due to reduced mobility, higher bruising trim, and meat quality defects (e.g., dark cutting). We use data collected from five federally inspected processing plants during 2021-2022 that include lot characteristics, animal welfare outcomes, and exogenous factors. Historical monthly price spreads from the Economic Research Service (ERS) and national weekly slaughter cattle premiums and discounts from the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) are used for market and pricing information. We construct grid carcass values for over 600 lots of fed cattle, representing over 87,000 fed cattle. Regression is used to analyze whether and how much mobility, bruising, and quality defects affect grid values conditional on lot characteristics and other exogenous factors. We find that the value after processing varies by the study factors, including animal welfare outcomes, although some negative welfare outcomes are relatively rare in the data. Assuming processors behave as profit maximizers, decreased returns due to poor animal welfare outcomes could incentivize improved animal welfare management in fed cattle production systems. Second, animal welfare management has broader implications for changing regulatory, market, and private industry requirements for producing animal products. Therefore, the second essay of this thesis broadens into a discussion of the heterogeneous motives behind animal welfare management at the pre-slaughter marketing stage. Animal welfare improvements are a conscious management decision impacting the various strategic goals of business. Beyond profit motives, we explore societal and consumer expectations, corporate responsibility, and market access options that are highlighted by increased investment in animal welfare management. We combine previous literature on these aspects into an over-arching discussion of the opportunities and challenges that producers may face when deciding how to manage animal welfare outcomes. To organize the discussion, we adopt a conceptual framework that incorporates dynamic firm behavior, such as access to differentiated markets and corporate social responsibility, in addition to simple profit maximization. The two essays combine to explore the trade-off of animal welfare management costs and benefits for producers in the final marketing stage of fed cattle and have the potential to generate future discussion on the feasibility and progress of ever-growing animal welfare requirements for farm animal production.
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    Informed decision-making on photovoltaic adoption for western Colorado peach orchards
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024) Bryan, Samantha, author; Hoag, Dana, advisor; Mooney, Daniel, advisor; Tonnessen, Brad, committee member
    The Solar Orchard Analysis and Recommendation Tool (SOAR) is an interactive decision-support tool curated for Western Colorado's peach growers to characterize photovoltaic adoption on their farms. Peach orchards use a substantial amount of energy that has the potential to be offset by photovoltaic arrays, allowing the farmer to reduce their operational costs as well as contribute to renewable energy initiatives. In addition, the benefits of solar energy can be enhanced as producers electrify their equipment where appropriate. Each farmer has their own unique energy supply and demand needs that can change over time as tools and vehicles become electrified and as photovoltaic technology evolves. In response, SOAR was created with engineers and local orchard growers to help farmers manage their energy needs. Furthermore, this tool allows farmers to evaluate the effects of different financing options on payback period, return on investment and initial investment cost of a PV array. The use of this decision support tool is exemplified with the use of a case study farm to demonstrate various supply and demand scenarios.